BILL'S HARD DRIVE — MICROSOFT EYES SEARCH GIANT IN PROPOSED TAKEOVER — Stung by the loss of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick to Google last month, Microsoft has intensified its pursuit of a deal with Yahoo!, asking the company to re-enter formal negotiations, The Post has learned.

Microsoft, Yahoo Reconsider Merger — A year ago, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. explored the idea of combining to form a greater competitor to Google Inc. — The talks led nowhere leaving Microsoft and Yahoo to forge their own paths in pursuit of Google. How did they do? Well, they're talking again.

MASSIVE: Microsoft May Acquire Yahoo for $50 Billion — This deal will be huge if it goes ahead: Microsoft has reacted to Google's purchase of DoubleClick by stepping up talks with Yahoo about a possible acquisition/merger. Estimated pricetag for Yahoo? $50 billion.

Microsoft eyes takeover of Yahoo — Microsoft is in early stage talks with Yahoo with a view to a possible takeover in a move that would allow the software giant to compete more effectively with Google for online advertising, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why Microsoft + Yahoo! makes sense - and why it won't work — The New York Post and WSJ.com just came out with stories of a rumored merger between Yahoo! and Microsoft. On paper, the deal makes sense for the following reasons, but in the end it's going to be so hard that I don't think it will happen.

Microsoft pursues Yahoo! takeover — The NY Post has the exclusive story this morning: Microsoft has once again approached Yahoo!, asking the Sunnyvale based search portal and content destination to come to the table and negotiate a friendly takeover by Microsoft.

MSFT and Yahoo: two icebergs, roped together — Update: — The latest version of the Wall Street Journal story at 4:19 on Friday afternoon says that the talks between Microsoft and Yahoo "are no longer active," according to the paper's sources — although "the two companies may still explore other ways of cooperating."

Yahoo Photos going dark as Flickr shines on — LOS ANGELES — At Yahoo, Web 2.0 has won one battle with stodgy old Web 1.0. — Yahoo is shutting down Yahoo Photos — for years, the No. 1 or No. 2 most-visited photo site on the Web. Its users will be directed to move their pictures to Yahoo's hot upstart, Flickr.

Lean and Mean — Last year I wrote a series of columns on management problems at IBM Global Services, explaining how the executive ranks from CEO Sam Palmisano on down were losing touch with reality, bidding contracts too low to make a profit then mismanaging them in an attempt to make a profit anyway …

YouTube Starts Paying Star Users — YouTube is going to start helping some of its indie video content creators make money, starting tomorrow. The company will launch a program that puts the creators of some of the more popular YouTube channels — including Lonelygirl15, LisaNova, HappySlip …

Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops — LIVERPOOL, N.Y. — The students at Liverpool High have used their school-issued laptops to exchange answers on tests, download pornography and hack into local businesses. When the school tightened its network security, a 10th grader …